China on Thursday (June 4) blasted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's comments on the deadly crackdown on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square 37 years ago as "smearing" the country's political system.
The events on and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end student-led pro-democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in China and the anniversary is not officially marked.
Rubio said on Wednesday that Beijing's censorship could not erase memories of the military assault.
"Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday," he said in a statement that followed past practice of the United States' top diplomat marking the anniversary.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said the government had long reached "a clear conclusion" about the "political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s," reiterating Beijing's stance.
"China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to the U.S. distorting historical facts, smearing China's political system and development path," Mao said of Rubio's statement.
She also accused the U.S. of interfering in China's internal affairs "on the pretext of" democracy and human rights, and defended Beijing's "path of socialism with Chinese characteristics."
